Sustainability
positivitea
Our emphasis on conscious choices sets us apart and keeps us growing—from plastic-free & biodegradable sachets to recyclable packaging, we're not stopping there. Because tea is a natural product and intrinsically compostable, it inspires us to do more! This year, we're committed to transitioning our company to a fully recyclable and compostable offering.
These choices are centred around what we call positivitea—where we keep what’s right for both our local communities and our global partners top of mind, always.
committed to
our journey
As of April 2023, all our online shipping in Canada is carbon neutral, thanks to our partnership with Canada Post. We’re also in the process of transitioning to compostable 50 g bags for our tea collection. And when we can’t find a solution that maintains the freshness and integrity of our tea, we stand by our commitment to recyclable packaging.
Click here for more details on how we’re reducing waste and pushing boundaries in the tea industry.
areas of focus
There’s no DAVIDsTEA without a healthy planet.
Our team’s decisions are fuelled by our desire to make the world a better place. As a tea company, we’re grounded in the natural world: nutrient-rich soil, clean water, responsible agriculture, and fair labour practices. To grow tea sustainably, we need healthy ecosystems.
Here’s how we’re moving forward and innovating the ways we package, sell and grow tea for our community!
As always, we make sure our tea is ethical & sustainable
Can tea be fair? Yes! Our decision-making is fuelled by our goal to positively impact the tea industry throughout our supply chain.
From tea workers to farmers and their families, we want everyone involved to benefit from safe, fair and equal working conditions. We consciously choose partners to ensure our ingredients check all the flavour boxes and our commitment to ethical sourcing. While certification isn’t automatic for each garden—it’s a long process with many rigorous steps—the gardens we source from use eco-friendly farming and fair labour practices. Through collaborations with the Ethical Tea Partnership and Fair Trade CertifiedTM, we’re able to protect and care for our tea community and the environments in which our tea is produced.
compostable & regenerative packaging is our absolute priority
Through our current environment-friendly packaging we aim to lead the tea industry by example. We are transitioning to compostable materials as much as possible and continue to reduce waste anywhere we can.
We acknowledge that packaging and shipping can be incredibly wasteful. That’s why we’re working hard to reduce shipping waste thanks to bulk packaging and compostable mailers. We’ve worked hard to make sure our products—especially those that are fragile—arrive with packing material that is, at minimum, recyclable. But that’s not all. We’re looking at innovative solutions and testing new compostable materials without compromising quality standards.
Plus, we’re proud to say that our iconic silver bags are recyclable, and our sachets are entirely plastic-free and always have been.
We bring people into the world of tea and care for our community around the globe
Our communitea is everything to us and we got your back. Always and forever.
Tea brings people together from all walks of life—different backgrounds, tastes and experiences, we welcome and appreciate everyone. From where we operate to where we source, we promise to continue prioritizing diversity & inclusion, access to opportunity & equal representation, and mental & physical health. We use the connections we make for positive change in our communities and around the world.
less talk, more action
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what we’ve accomplished so far &
what we plan to do next
1
Ethical & sustainable tea sourcing
- We source from trusted partners that offer the most sustainable and ethically sourced ingredients.
- Today, over 30% of our collection is Certified Organic.
- 60% of our current collection contributes to the Ethical Tea Partnership.
- Increased our current Fair Trade CertifiedTM assortment by 125% in 2022! We surpassed our initial goal to increase by 75%.
- Re-blending our tea collection whenever possible to create positive impact—like how we re-blended Organic Cream of Earl Grey, S’mores Chai and Hot Chocolate to be Fair Trade CertifiedTM.
- Partnered with Fair Trade CertifiedTM to support financial literacy trainings for women’s empowerment.
- In November 2020 we launched the DAVIDsTEA Impact Fund which contributes to local and global give-back initiatives such as 3 long-term social projects in gardens we source from:
- Nepal clean water project with Jun Chiyabari Tea Garden, to help provide four government schools drinking water, impacting the lives of over 3,200 students, teachers & staff where we source our Organic Nepal Black tea.
- South African Homework Facility, that will provide a safe space for the children of tea farmers to study, where we source our Wild Grown Rooibos.
- In 2022, we launched our DAVIDsTEA x Ethical Tea Partnership Impact Project to support the tea growing community in Zhejiang, China—one of the regions where we source premium black and green tea bases for some of our top blends. It’s called C.A.M.P by DAVIDsTEA, which stands for Child-friendly Areas for Meaningful Positivitea.
1
Ethical & sustainable tea sourcing
- Continue to offer one of the world’s largest organic collections in the industry. We’re increasing our organic offering to 50% in 2023.
- Innovate, create and continue to exceed our goals on organic and Fair Trade CertifiedTM teas.
2
Compostable & regenerative packaging
- Our sachet sampling on web orders are home compostable, made with vegetable-based inks and water-based glue. The envelope is also recyclable!
- Our sachet bags are entirely plastic-free and biodegradable.
- We introduced new wholesale sachet packaging with compostable overwraps.
- We introduced new compostable mailers, to replace boxes with excess packing material for smaller, non-breakable orders.
- Our iconic silver bags and most of our gift packaging is recyclable.
- We’re reducing waste by including more bulk packaging online (like our bulk bags of 75 sachets), plus larger formats of our best-selling loose leaf flavours.
- We have partnered with One Tree Planted to plant 500 trees in Quebec to replace paper used in special printed projects and to plant trees in BC to replace cups used as to-go beverages at our Pacific Centre location in Vancouver.
2
Compostable & regenerative packaging
- Replace plastic bags in our tea tins with biodegradable material by 2025.
- Committed to transitioning to a fully recyclable and compostable offerings, from compostable tea bags to recyclable gifting options.
- Continue to reduce paper waste wherever possible.
3
Caring for our community
- We’ve donated over 1.3 million cups of tea to hardworking frontline heroes across the continent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic!
- We partnered with Tea Horse, a woman-led Indigenous artisanal tea company to launch Manoomin Maple. 10% of proceeds will go towards the David Suzuki Institute to support Indigenous communities through the “Reconciling Ways of Knowing” program. This project won a Sustainability Award at the North American Tea Conference!
- 87% of our collection is vegan to make our tea blends accessible to all.
- We launched our Diversity & Inclusion Committee to promote respect and acceptance of all people.
- We support various cultural and social causes and are investing in employee training for gender equality, equity & reconciliation.
- We added Land Acknowledgements across our digital platforms and retail stores.
- We prioritize the mental and physical health of our community.
- We partnered with a Montreal local organization, Vent Over Tea, a free mental health service—an active listening program that pairs individuals with an empathetic listener.
- We go the extra mile and offer our employees paid wellness and volunteering days.
- Partnered with Mamas for Mamas—a national charitable organization that supports caregivers in crisis by providing support, access to programs, and essential & selfcare products.
3
Caring for our community
- We’re inviting customers to help us reach 2 million cups donated! Every transaction (in-store & online) equals 1 cup of tea donated.
- Solidify our commitment to water stewardship, and improving water access and better water quality, both in Canada and abroad by partnering with non-profits.
- Continue investing in training our employees on matters of diversity, inclusion, equity and sustainability.
- As strong supporters of local causes, charitable organizations and gifting opportunities, we will continue to participate in events that help better the community. Find more about our sponsorship program here.
Our sustainability strategy was built with the UN
Sustainability Development Goals in mind—in global
partnership to combat climate change, reduce inequality,
and impact access to health and education.
These plans will continue to evolve as we grow our
sustainability efforts. Keep an eye out for more!
